The annual British Asian Trust Royal Dinner is always one of my favourite nights of the year. I’ve been an Ambassador for almost 5 years now and it’s always a time to recognise, reflect upon and celebrate what the Trust has achieved over the past year, as well as help raise more money to continue their life-changing work in South Asia.

This year’s dinner was extra special for me because I was able to spend some quality time with two amazing young women - Kalsoom and Navanitha. Like many other females in South Asia, they were both told that being a girl meant limits, that their gender would mean they couldn’t and wouldn’t achieve as much as the boys around them. Kalsoom and Navanitha have both challenged those negative beliefs in the best way possible – by proving them wrong. Here are their stories…

Thirty-year-old Kalsoom grew up as one of eight children in Sialkot, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. She always knew that the only way out of poverty was to go to school and was determined to get an education. She briefly became a teacher, but soon found herself in an abusive marriage. After giving birth to a disabled son, who was rejected by her husband and his family, Kulsoom had to face the social stigma of divorce and returned home to her parents.

Kulsoom’s life changed after enrolling on a training programme with the British Asian Trust’s partner Kaarvan Crafts Foundation, which aims to enable women in low-income communities across Pakistan to successfully pursue decent livelihoods. Spotting an opportunity in her community, Kalsoom completed a stitching course and now runs her own business – a training centre which teaches sewing techniques to 20 girls at a time. Her stitching group felt like a sisterhood and that support helped her gain some confidence. She earns enough money now to take care of her whole family and knowing she doesn’t have to depend on anyone else has empowered Kalsoom.

Fifteen-year-old Navanitha from Bangalore in South India turned to sport to change her life. India has the highest number of child brides in the world - 47% of girls are married before their 18th birthday because they are viewed as an economic burden on their own families. Sadly, Navanitha lost her father at the tender age of 8, but despite the financial pressures of growing up in single-parent household, she managed to escape the early marriage path.

Navanitha came across an after-school football club run by the Trust’s partner Dream A Dream at a time when she had lost all her confidence, hated school and didn’t feel positive at all about life. Curiosity made Navanitha sign up and she soon realised she had talent. From feeling invisible, suddenly people were taking notice of Navanitha and believing in her so she could believe in herself. The simple act of playing sport gave Navanitha confidence and her love of school and learning returned. Last year, she even represented India with her goalkeeper skills at the Street Football World Festival in France.

After I first spoke to Kulsoom and Navanitha, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. It was a real honour to privately introduce them to The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at the 2017 annual Royal BAT dinner and then on stage to all 450 supporters and guests later that evening. Both women have shown us what can be achieved with strength, resilience and determination. Not only did they change their own lives, they are now helping others do the same thing. Women like Kulsoom and Navanitha are the heart of our households, the centre of our communities. Sometimes all they need is the opportunity to thrive.

Join Sonali from 10am - 1pm all week on the BBC Asian Network phone-in to debate issues important to British Asians in the UK. It is Sonali's first time working with the station and she'll be back hosting another week of debates in September.

On Tuesday 23rd August, Sonali will be joined by Professor Greg Whyte to discuss pregnancy and exercise.

For two weeks from August 1st 2016, Sonali will cover Matt Williams and present the sport bulletins on BBC Radio 2's Drivetime show. Mark Goodier is sitting in for Simon Mayo during this fortnight. You can listen to Sonali from 5-7pm during this time - she will be focussing on speaking to as many Olympians as possible competing out at the Rio games.

The National Lottery Live, including the Lotto and Thunderball draws, will be presented by Sonali during summer 2016. The show will also feature many of the 2016 Rio Olympians who have been supported by the Lottery.

At 07.30 on 1 July 1916, whistles were blown up and down the British front line and thousands of men climbed from their trenches into no man's land - it was the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

To mark this moment 100 years on, Huw Edwards and Dan Snow in Thiepval, France, Sonali Shah in Sheffield Memorial Park, France, and Kirsty Young in Westminster Abbey, London, will present a special live broadcast on BBC One. The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery will fire their guns on Parliament Square and two minutes' silence will be observed.

Then, at 9.15am on BBC One, Huw Edwards will introduce live coverage of the centenary Somme commemoration at the Thiepval Memorial, France, to remember the one million casualties sustained on both sides during the 141 days of the battle. One hundred years on from the first day of this defining World War One battle, TRH The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and HRH Prince Henry of Wales will join heads of state and 10,000 spectators. The Thiepval Memorial stands in commemoration to the missing of the Somme, the 72,000 men that have no known grave. Sonali will be speaking to those taking part in services in Sheffield Memorial Park in northern France.

After reporting from Windsor on the Queen's 90th birthday in April, Sonali once again joined the BBC Events team for BBC One's coverage of the British Monarch's official celebrations over the weekend.

On Friday, June 10th, The Queen and 53 members of the Royal Family attended a service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's. Saturday saw the traditional pageantry of Trooping the Colour and on Sunday, The Mall was transformed into a giant street party and 10,000 people joined The Queen for a picnic with carnival style entertainment and union flags aplenty. Each programme was anchored from a specially built bandstand style studio overlooking the lake in St James' Park.

Sonali Shah joined Huw Edwards and Kirsty Young to guide viewers through live coverage of the service at St Paul's on BBC One.

She interviewed guests and those taking part in the service, including the Archbishop of York, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, BBC Young Musician of the Year 2014 Martin James Bartlett, who performed inside St Paul's, and Cadet Lance Corporal Tamara Cakmak, who read two poems during the service.

On June 5th, Sonali co-presented a youth debate on the upcoming EU referendum streamed live on Facebook. #InOutLive was organised by Bite the Ballot, an organisation which aims to encourage young people to get involved with political debate. Sonali joined Bite the Ballot co-founder Michael Sani in presenting the debate. The three main topics discussed were the economy, security and immigration.

At the beginning of June, Sonali joined Naga Munchetty and Jon Kay on the BBC Breakfast sofa to present the sport bulletins. On her first day, gymnast Nile Wilson popped in for a chat about his recent success at the European Championships.

21st April 2016 marks Her Majesty the Queen's 90th birthday. On this day, together with His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen embarked on a walkabout through the town to greet well-wishers, as she became the first reigning British monarch to celebrate this milestone.

Kirsty Young presented live coverage of these celebrations and Sonali joined the BBC Events team as a reporter outside Windsor Castle on this special day.

The new curriculum for KS3 means that students are required to study two Shakespeare plays. Sonali has been working with the RSC's Schools' Broadcasts for the past two years, helping transforming young people's attitudes towards Shakespeare. They are available free to all UK schools and hundreds of schools and thousands of students watch each broadcast.

In the past, Sonali has hosted Q&A sessions in these broadcasts with directors and actors involved in Henry IV parts 1 and 2, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love Labours Lost and Love Labours Won.

During 2016, there will be a series of events to mark the 400th death anniversary of Shakespeare. Sonali once again joined the RSC, this time to broadcast their 2015 production of Othello, directed by Iqbal Khan.

This year marks the 800th anniversary of The Lord Mayor's Show, an annual procession through the streets of the city of London. This year features 24 marching bands, 200 horses, two reindeer, a flying pig, a motorcycle stunt team, and the latest James Bond car.

Sonali will be hosting the show alongside Gyles Brandreth at 10.45am on Saturday 14 November on BBC One. They'll meet some of the procession's 7,000 participants as London celebrates the arrival of its new Lord Mayor. Commentary by will covered by Dan Snow.

Celebrating its 10th year, Europe’s largest Asian wedding exhibition returned to London's Excel on 9-11 October 2015. This year, it ran in parallel with the very first India Fashion Week exhibition in London, which saw a host of talented designers showcase their collections. The British Asian Trust had been chosen as the event's official charity partner. As an ambassador of the charity, Sonali presented a segment during the launch night on Friday 9 October to highlight the work of the Trust.

On Saturday 10 October, Sonali was asked to join the models on the catwalk during the Satya Paul show. She wore one of the stunning pieces from the designer house's bridal collection - a lehenga with henna-inspired velvet patchwork woven on a net lehenga. Dori and zari embellished the digital printing on the silk blouse and the outfit was laden with crystals to add a touch of sparkle.

Sonali will be presenting The National Lottery Live on Saturday nights from 25th July on BBC One. For the next few weeks, the Lotto and Thunderball draws will be within a brand new quiz show called 5-Star Family Reunion, hosted by Nick Knowles.

Sonali is joining the BBC's long-running show Crimewatch for a few months. She will present the programme on BBC One with Kirsty Young and Martin Bayfield on 26 May and 28 July. Sonali will also present the final week of Crimewatch Roadshow with Rav Wilding. Sonali's week on Crimewatch Roadshow will air weekday mornings from 29th June 2015 at 9.15am on BBC One.

Springwatch returns to BBC Two on Monday 25th May. This year, the team will broadcast live from RSPB Minsmere on the beautiful Suffolk coast. The three-week-long wildlife extravaganza, hosted by Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Martin Hughes-Games will continue through to Thursday 11th June.

I’m filming a report on microplastics for this year’s Springwatch. When plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, these pieces are called microplastics. There are millions of tonnes of these microplastics in our oceans. I’ve set out to discover how plastics in our toiletries (!) are killing our marine wildlife.

Sonali will be presenting the Tower Hamlets Youth Sport Foundation Awards again this year. The event on Thursday 30 April will be the Foundation's third annual awards presentation and fundraising dinner, celebrating the finest young athletes across the borough. Sonali will be interviewing the evening's special guests, ex England cricket captain Graham Gooch, former Badminton world champion Gail Emms and West Ham FC manager, Sam Allardyce, after dinner.

I'm so pleased to have been asked to join bestselling children’s author Anthony Horowitz and Professor Christopher Andrew, the official historian of the Security Service, MI5 as a judge on Blue Peter’s groundbreaking new venture.

The show has launched a search for three ‘CBBC Intelligence Officers’. The exciting new project will see the iconic CBBC brand collaborating with and gaining unprecedented access to MI5. Codenamed 'Project Petra' (after one of Blue Peter’s best loved pets), the process will be open to children aged between eight and 14.

From the application process, we will select eight candidates who will attend a special spy school where they will be tested on key observational and analytical skills over a weekend of tough challenges.

The panel of judges will whittle the candidates down to a final three who will become official CBBC Intelligence Officers. These three lucky viewers can look forward to an experience of a lifetime, as they embark on an exclusive tour of MI5’s headquarters in London, Thames House. Their visit will be filmed by Blue Peter - the first time TV cameras are allowed into a usually top-secret building.

Project Petra will be shown on Blue Peter on 2nd, 9th and 16th April 2015 on CBBC.

I'm pleased to announce I'll be part of the Channel 4 presenting team covering of the reburial of Richard III.

On 26th March 2015, Richard III – the king found under a council car park in Leicester in 2012 – will be buried in the city’s cathedral. Channel 4, which captured the discovery and subsequent identification of Richard’s remains in the award-winning documentary ‘Richard III: The King in the Car Park’, will be the only broadcaster to film the burial and key services live. It will broadcast these events live and exclusively from Leicester in three special programmes presented by Jon Snow with Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Arthur Williams and me.

The programmes:

Richard III: The Return of the King
Evening of Sunday 22nd March
This programme will capture the climax of the procession of the King’s mortal remains back to the site of his death at Bosworth Battlefield through the streets of Leicester and the service that marks the king’s reception into Leicester Cathedral with a sermon given by Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. Channel 4 will also assemble leading historians, actors, politicians, descendants of the King and key participants in his rediscovery, to ask who Richard really was and what his place in British history should now be.

Richard III: The Burial of the King
Morning of Thursday 26th March
Live coverage of the reburial service, attended by members of the Royal Family, as the King is formally reinterred at the east end of the Cathedral. Guests at the service and key players in the King’s story will join Jon in the studio beforehand and afterwards, and a series of short films will offer glimpses of the preparations for this unique event and explore the debates surrounding it.

Richard III: The King Laid to Rest
Thursday evening
A final programme showing highlights of the reburial service from earlier in the day and - live - a last moment of intimate ceremonial, in which those who led the campaign to find Richard and his descendants, gather to bid the King a final farewell.
The Bosworth beacon, lit when Richard's remains arrived back at the site of his death on Sunday morning, will be extinguished as the massive tombstone is revealed for the first time.

These are the words we hear throughout the Premier League transfer window, when clubs have just a few weeks to buy and sell players to fine-tune their team. The fees have been agreed and the personal terms have been sorted. Now it's time for the final hurdle in negotiations - a player's medical examination. But what do these medicals actually involve?

I spent the day at the FA's National Football Centre - St. George's Park - to find out. I was told to bring my gym kit so I could try out some of the hi-tech equipment used on Premier League players.

Dr Charlotte Cowie has been in charge of the medical teams at Tottenham and Fulham and is now based at St George's Park, where all English teams have the option of sending their players to be assessed. On my visit to their state-of-the-art medical facilities, she informs me her team never really "pass" or "fail" a player.

''One man's fail is another man's pass. It really depends on where the player is injury-wise, what the manager and the club want from that player and what it's going to cost. It's a risk-benefit analysis."

I find Steve Kemp, a physiotherapist for the England team, in the St. George's Park human performance lab. He straps me in to their isokinetics machine. This allows him to test and compare the strength and imbalances of contracting muscles to assess performance and injury risk.

The machine brings back a frustrating memory for Steve. Working with a Premier League team, he once dealt with a player (he won't say who) on the machine who went out to make a phone call, "and they never came back. Another club's phoned with a better offer and they've disappeared - these things happen unfortunately".''

Sonali will host the Lord Mayor’s Show 2014 with Chris Hollins and Dan Snow.

The BBC’s coverage will feature 19 bands, 180 horses, vintage cars, dogs, penguins, a Chinese dragon, a Viking ship and Masai dancers, as well as the City’s historic copy of the Magna Carta.

Sonali and Chris will be meeting some of the spectacular procession’s 7,000 participants as well as a few of the half a million people who line the streets between Bank and Aldwych to cheer on the parade. Dan will provide commentary.

This year, Alan Yarrow will be welcomed as London’s 687th Lord Mayor of the City of London. He will succeed Fiona Woolf, who was only the second woman to hold the post in its 800 year history.

Don’t miss the annual ceremonial parade at 10.45 on Saturday 8th November on BBC One and BBC One HD. If you want to send a good luck message to any of the participants or contact the show, email lordmayorsshow@bbc.co.uk or use the hashtag #BBCLMS on twitter.

On the 3rd anniversary of BBC North's move to Salford, I hosted a Children's Media Question Time event for BAFTA at MediaCityUK. On the agenda was the impact of the Salford move, BAME (black and minority ethnic) representation in children's media, tax breaks and other issues affecting the industry.

What would you say to your 16-year-old self if you could go back in time? That's what the Big Issue asked me three years ago...so I wrote a letter to my younger self. This morning, I went back to read what advice the 31-year-old me had given to a much younger me...here it is...

Dear Me,

I know you hate surprises but I’m not going to tell you exactly how your life is turning out. I’m guessing that’s annoyed you because you love knowing everything but this is for your own good. I want you to continue going with your gut. It’ll be right most of the time.

I do have some shocking news to break to you though. You won’t end up becoming a doctor. Or one of Janet Jackson’s backing dancers. This won’t be because you aren’t clever or good enough. Your mum just ends up making a good case against both career options and you listen to her. Don’t worry, you will still nail your A Levels next year and then, you’ll enter a world you’d never seriously considered before. I warn you though - those childhood appearances on Blue Peter will eventually come back to haunt you. As for the dreams of medicine and dancing – I’m afraid you’ll always get jealous when watching ER (you’ll be glad to know the series goes on for years and George Clooney gets even hotter) and you’ll continue to bust out the moves in your living room when no one is watching.

As you grow older, you’ll be told you can achieve pretty much anything you want if you are prepared to put in the hours. But not many people will tell you this - no one can have it all, all of the time. There will be moments in life when you are forced to choose between work and family. If you choose work, family will understand – they are very supportive. But don’t be afraid to put family first.

Try not to judge others because situations are rarely black and white and even good people can do bad things. Instead, watch people. Listen to their stories. Empathise. Sympathise. Be a good friend.

I know you’ve had to deal with mean girls who make you feel horrible about yourself. That is just how some people are and you cannot change them. You can change your reaction to them though. It is better to have 5 amazing friends than 25 okay ones so cherish your great mates and don’t feel bad about dumping the toxic ones. Surround yourself with people you respect and make you laugh.

You know how mum tells you your mouth will be the making and breaking of you? Well she’s right. You don’t have to tell everyone exactly what you’re thinking all the time. I know the way mum and dad guide and discipline you can be frustrating at times, but you’ll eventually realise just how good your upbringing was. And believe it or not, your brother will eventually become a little less annoying and you’ll end up the best of friends.

I know being part of two cultures can be hard and sometimes you feel like you don’t belong in either, but it will become easier – so easy that you don’t even think about it most days. Be proud of your heritage and appreciate what your family sacrificed to give you the opportunities you have today. Stop wishing your skin was fairer. You’ll eventually realise that most people in Britain spend lots of time and money tanning their skin to try to make it looks just like yours. You’ll start wearing saris soon and no other item of clothing will ever make you feel more beautiful than six yards of material wrapped around you.

Learn from other people’s triumphs and mistakes. More importantly, learn from your own mistakes. Learn how to smile a bit more because you have one of those faces that looks bitchy and bored when you’re not smiling. And it won’t improve.

Shoes will be a love you and mum share for life. Cricket will become so much more than just something you and dad share. Your brother’s room may look like a shrine to Arsenal now but eventually you’ll become the Gooner and your brother will forget who Arsene Wenger even is.

I know your head must be spinning right now, but there are just a few more rules you must live by. No matter how charming or funny a boy is, if he’s a bad kisser, walk away. Kissing is too precious to waste your time engaging in bad play. Remember that life is a journey, not a destination so take lots of photos, dance like no one’s watching, laugh until it can hurt no more and love like you’ve never been hurt before.

I’m going to leave you with a bit of honesty – you will never be tall, your bum will never be small and the stretch marks will never fade. But you, my girl, will be just fine.

Love,

Your 31-year-old self.

P.S. Get dad to buy as many shares in Apple Inc. as he can afford. Trust me, I’m not a doctor.

The Vikings have arrived at the British Museum! Their new exhibition focuses on the core period of the Viking Age from the late 8th century to the early 11th century. It features many new archaeological discoveries and objects never seen before in the UK.

At the centre of the exhibition will be the surviving timbers of a 37-metre-long Viking warship, the longest ever found.

For those of you who can’t get to the British Museum, we have filmed an hour-long show called Viking Adventures. It is aimed at Key Stage 2 children aged 7-11 and their families.

You can join me and CBBC’s Ed Petrie for a fantastic tour through the world of the Vikings. I have a go at minting my own Viking coin and learning the Viking alphabet while Ed tries a spot of boat building and manages to break up a sword fight. The film also features experiments, Viking food tastings and a thousand-year-old Viking poo that was excavated from under a bank in York!

While working at Crufts for Channel 4’s coverage of the event, I was given a photography lesson by dog photographer Andy Biggar. Andy turned professional after winning places in the Kennel Club’s Dog Photographer of the Year competition two years in a row. His photos are absolutely stunning – you can see some of them on his website.

Andy had half an hour to teach me how to take decent photos of a dog. Our model for my lesson was a lovely Italian Spinone called Jinx. Andy said the best dog photos are those that capture its true personality and character. Here are the tips Andy gave me to try to achieve that:

* Get outside – lighting is rarely great indoors so try to work with natural light in your garden or local park
* Get a friend involved – it’s easier taking photos of your dog if someone else is helping grab the subject’s attention
* Crouch – get eye-to-eye with your dog when taking your pictures
* Be aware of your background – try to avoid shooting in front of ugly objects like bins
* Move around the dog – take photos from all angles
* Think about framing – while you can crop photos after taking them, it is better to think about where you place your dog in the frame while you are taking the photo. Try to keep the dog in the middle of your photo
* Portrait and action - take photos while your dog is standing or sitting still and while he or she is playing
* Use your camera’s burst mode – this takes several photos in quick succession which gives you more chance of capturing a great moment of action
* Snap away – take as many photos as you can because sometimes you have to take dozens of photos to get that one perfect shot.

I think you can use these tips when taking photos of your kids too. Thank you Andy! Here are the best results of my lesson...

This week, I’ll be making my annual pilgrimage to the NEC in Birmingham for the largest dog show in the world – Crufts. I’m looking forward to my third year at the biggest event in the canine calendar, reporting for Channel 4 and More 4. Although I don't think I'll be hurdling against the flyball competitors this year - that was just a one-off for the Olympic year that was 2012!

We’ll be bringing you highlights of the day’s action every evening during the four-day show, including the agility and flyball competitions and of course the judging of the Group finalists. I’ll be exploring stories around the show (things like how to train your puppy) and we will also talk about dog health and welfare. Other highlights include Scruffts and the much-loved Friends for Life competition. This year also sees the winner of Superstar Dogs – Countdown to Crufts crowned at the show.

Thursday 6th March
1830 – 2100 on More 4
Coverage of the Working group judging including Boxers, Great Danes and Newfoundlands, and the Pastoral group judging including Border Collies, Old English Sheepdogs and Welsh Corgis.

Friday 7th March
1830 – 1930 on More 4 and 1930 – 2100 on Channel 4
Coverage will include the Hound Group judging

Saturday 8th March
1900 – 2100 on Channel 4
Coverage of the Utility group judging including Poodles, French bulldogs and Dalmatians, and the Toy group judging including Chihuahuas, Bichon Frises, Papillons and Yorkshire Terriers.

Sunday 9th March
1900 – 2100 on Channel 4
Coverage of the Gundog group judging and Best in Show.

Every woman’s stomach muscles widen and stretch during pregnancy - some more than others. During my third trimester I discovered my abdominal muscles were separating more than what is considered normal – this is a condition called Diastasis Recti. It meant I would have to deal with extreme ‘mummy tummy’ after I gave birth.

In some parts of the world, woman use post-natal compression garments such as corsets to help their muscles come back together. Mum of two and actress Jessica Alba has talked about how she ''wore a double corset day and night for three months'' after the birth of her youngest daughter. As great as she looks, I knew the first few weeks of being a mum would be hard enough for me without putting that kind of pressure on myself to lose my belly. But I was keen on drafting in some help to deal with my muscle separation.

I must confess I completely forgot to try any of the compression garments in the first few days after giving birth. Those days were a total blur! When my daughter was about a week old, I picked up the Macom corset and realised I had been too ambitious with sizing – there was no way I was ever going to get the eye hooks to fasten.

I also had trouble fastening the Vespa belly wrap across me properly. As my hips are a lot wider than my waist, the wrap didn’t feel snug if I tried to accommodate my hips. I emailed the company who assured me I had the right size and suggested I wear it a bit higher and affix the Velcro on a diagonal to allow for my hips. The wrap did feel tighter if I wore it this way but it only fitted under very loose clothing so I was only able to wear it around the house. I think this wrap would be better suited to someone with less of an hourglass figure.

As it turns out, it was the simple tubigrip band that was the easiest compression product to wear in those first few weeks. It really helped to hold in all the loose skin and extra fat my body now had and reminded me to correct my posture when I was out and about. It was also thin enough to wear under normal clothing without adding extra bulk. In fact, it made me look slimmer than I was.

Three weeks after giving birth I contacted Macom Medical about getting a bigger corset and they suggested I try their post-natal compression girdle in a bigger size instead of swapping the corset. It takes a good couple of minutes to squeeze into, but it is comfortable once it is on and instantly gives me more of a streamline figure. Three months down the line, I still wear this girdle if I’m going out and need to squeeze into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes.

I lent the extra-small Macom corset to a friend of mine whose has always been extra-small and remains so post-pregnancy. This is her verdict: ‘’This corset is amazing! It manages to give me a streamline figure, erasing the dreaded mummy tummy. It takes a little bit of pressure off me to lose the weight too quickly because I can easily fit back into my pre-pregnancy dresses with this lovely contraption! It is comfortable and looks quite feminine.’’

Before giving birth, I thought I'd wear one of the post-natal corsets everyday to help me get back into shape. But in reality, I find them too uncomfortable while breastfeeding and I don't have the energy to keep taking one on and off all day. Four months after giving birth, the gap between my stomach muscles has become smaller, but due to my lack of dedication to the compression garments, I'm afraid I can’t say for sure how much they have helped achieve this. I think the pilates I started six weeks after giving birth may have done more for my abdominal muscles. What these compression garments have definitely done though is help me cope with the extra baby weight in these busy months when losing my baby belly is something I just don't have time to do just yet.

I became an ambassador for the British Asian Trust in 2012. It was important for me to support a charity that changed lives in the sub-continent, where my grandparents were born. That's exactly what the British Asian Trust does. It was founded in 2007 at the suggestion of HRH The Prince of Wales and provides funding for education, enterprise and health in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

In its first five years, the Trust touched the lives of more than a million people living in poverty in South Asia and it is vital this fantastic work continues. That's why I attended the British Asian Trust Royal Dinner at the V&A Museum in London this week with my fellow ambassadors. It was lovely to meet HRH The Prince of Wales again and hear him talk about his recent tour to South Asia when he visited some of the Trust's projects. Watch HRH's speech here

The main aim of the night was to raise money and I'm proud to say it was a very successful night with more than £500,000 raised for the charity's work in South Asia. One of the best auction prizes came from three time Wimbledon Champion, Boris Becker, who auctioned himself off for a game of tennis with Novak Djokovic at Buckingham Palace! Thank you Boris!

What I wore on air was something I always thought about while working at the children's channel. I presented Newsround between 2006 and 2011 and during that time I was fully aware how important it was to make sure our audience connected with me. This meant dressing in a way that they could identify with. I wanted to look like an older sister, not their mum or their teachers.

To achieve this I only ever wore clothes bought on the high street. After the show, kids would email or message us on the CBBC message boards, sometimes commenting on our clothing and ask where it was from. I wanted to make sure my style was accessible to them.

Too much cleavage or heavy red lipstick isn't my style anyway so dressing appropriately wasn't hard. Not that red lipstick should be banned on children's telly. I think everything should be judged on a case-by-case basis.

Why concentrate so much on the appearance of children's presenters you may ask. Well, you can write the best script in the world, but not many 6-12 year olds will listen to it or take anything in if the person presenting the information hasn't engaged them in some way first. And sometimes that has to be done with styling.

It's not easy picking a baby changing bag. There are dozens of them on the market, but just because its primary purpose is to carry nappies, it doesn't have to look like it does. That's why I decided to not buy a specialist bag and just use this Johnny Loves Rosie Tote as my changing bag. Okay, it doesn't have specific pockets for everything you need to carry with you when you have a baby, but it's big enough to hold a change mat, nappies, wipes, a change of clothes and some muslin cloths, which is all I need at the moment because I am still breastfeeding.

I also love the fact that it has a clutch bag big enough for money, make up and my phone attached to it that I can just zip on and off. I know I'll need a bigger one once I start using the bottle to feed my daughter while we are out and about, but for now this two-in-one bag is perfect.

This week, Marks & Spencer announced it would make all its own-brand toys gender neutral by spring 2014 after complaints its marketing promoted gender stereotypes. M&S follows retailers like Debenhams, The Entertainer and Hobbycraft, who have already made changes to their packaging and signage.

I began to notice the problem a few years ago while working as a presenter on Newsround. Shops always separated their toy sections for boys and girls. Apparently boys should be playing with action figures, racing cars and dinosaurs and girls should be pretending to be princesses. Boys should be adventurous and girls should be nurturing. It was all so outdated. The amount of pink on the girls’ shelves made me nauseous. I just couldn’t understand why gender, rather than genre, should dictate marketing in the 21st century.

This year, when I told family and friends I was having a daughter, a few people commented on how our life would now be full of pink. After all, that’s the only colour many clothing and toy manufacturers make available for those buying for girls. As it turns out, I dress my baby girl in quite a bit of blue – not because I’m trying to make a political statement via my daughter – but because most of her cousins are boys and so her hand-me-downs are babygrows aimed at boys. I also happen to really like the colour blue.

When I was a kid, I never fitted the stereotype. I loved science, climbing trees, kicking my younger brother in the head AND making flowers from ribbon, colouring in and cooking. I was more into cars – my toys ones and counting real ones on the road - than my Barbie and Ken dolls.

Now I’m all grown up, I love cars and girly shoes (though men can wear heels if they want!) in equal measure. The only reason I have more shoes than cars is because they’re more affordable. I also enjoy watching my nephews cooking me invisible food in their play kitchen and I look forward to the day my daughter stuffs her doll into a dumper truck.

The campaign group Let Toys Be Toys says high street stores are less sexist this Christmas, but there is still a way to go. What we need now is for ALL toy manufacturers and retailers to grow up and change their products and marketing. The only message they should be sending out to kids is that they can be whoever they want to be.

When I got a call from the BBC property show Escape to the Country, I thought they’d been spying on me. I have been plotting my very own escape to the country (well, the capital's green belt!) ever since I found out I was pregnant. A gorgeous top floor flat close to central London was perfect for a couple, but there just wasn’t enough room for a baby (and the mountains of paraphernalia a baby appears to require).

My husband and I had a very clear vision of what we were searching for in a property, which meant it soon became clear we were never going to find our dream home in time. So, we changed our expectations and soon stumbled upon a suitable house near both sets of grandparents-to-be (we know we are going to need their support over the next few years!).

Moving day came around very quickly. I’ve always thought using a professional home moving company was a bit indulgent but am so grateful my other half suggested we have Pickfords do all the hard work – it takes away so much of the stress of moving, especially when you are 7.5 months pregnant.

Just before the big move, I really didn’t feel ready to leave my life in London’s zone 2. But it’s funny how quickly we can forget about an old life and adjust to pastures new. It probably helped that I had no time to think, let alone unpack properly.

A few days later, I was on the road with Escape to the Country for three weeks helping other people try to find their dream home. It’s so fascinating and exciting to be part of someone else’s property search – mainly because there are so many emotions involved in a home move. The shows I filmed will air in the new year – I can’t wait to watch them from my new living room with a healthy new addition to the family in my arms!

There are many ways to dress a bump - when I started showing I was keen to stick to my own sense of style. I scoured all the usual maternity sections in shops and online but everything was so unflattering on me, it all had to go back. I don’t think a pregnant woman should look like she’s dressed in a tent, unless she wants to of course!

So apart from a couple of pairs of maternity skinny jeans (which I think will be useful when pigging out over Diwali or Christmas!), I’ve stuck to my usual wardrobe, with a few roomier black tops thrown in to accommodate what has turned out to be a football-up-my-jumper-style bump.

Non-maternity black dresses from ASOS and Zara accessorised with bright chunky jewellery and wedges have seen me through a few filming days.

I’ve also worn a lot of blazers – this white tuxedo jacket from Topshop has been a pregnancy favourite. I wore it with one of my trusty black tops, leather-look leggings, spiky silver heels and chunky jewellery for a Wimbledon WTA red carpet event.

I’ve always adored wearing scarves and have been teaming them with blazers throughout my pregnancy

Weddings have been easy – saris are always six yards in length so fit all shapes and sizes.

As the weather turned, I turned to the dolly coats I have collected over the years – I bought this red one on ASOS.com a few years ago and it kept me and the bump warm while I was presenting the triathlon Grand Final in London a month before my due date.

What I love about my maternity wardrobe is that it can all be worn post-birth. After all, I was wearing most of it pre-bump!

On the triathlon circuit, everyone always talks about how unpredictable the sport is. Swim. Bike. Run. Three things most of us have at least tried at some point in our lives. But put those three things together and what you get is one of the toughest sports in the world. Triathletes can have tactics up their sleeves going into a race, but it’s how they respond to what is happening around them that really counts.

After seven races across four continents, this year’s World Triathlon Series staged its Grand Final in London’s Hyde Park this weekend. The race to be crowned world champion had come right down to the wire in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

There was a lot of talk about a British 1-2 on the podium. Of course most people were referring to a Brownlee 1-2. In the end, Britain’s women served up that tasty treat well before the two brothers from Yorkshire got anywhere near the startline.

On Saturday, Swansea’s Non Stanford made history by becoming the first woman to be named World Champion just a year after taking the under-23 world title. And she did it in style.

It was a dramatic race right from the start with the two leading athletes in the standings dropping out of contention. Germany’s Anne Haug had a shocker of a swim and it was game over for Gwen Jorgensen of the United States after she suffered a heavy crash on bike in the treacherous weather conditions.

What remained were two British women going for one world title. The widely-advertised Brownlee versus Brownlee had turned into Stanford versus Stimpson. They stayed close on the bike, but while Jodie had trouble putting on her shoes in the second transition, Non attacked, knowing she had to serve a 15 second penalty during the run for not putting her wetsuit into her box during the first transition.

Less than two months after breaking her arm during a race in Hamburg, Non dealt with everything thrown at her on the Olympic course with grace and guts. She went hard on the run and created enough of a gap so that by the time she had taken her punishment, she could start to relax. Roared on by the Hyde Park crowd, Non grabbed a Welsh flag to drape around her shoulders as she ran down the home straight.

Fellow Brit Jodie finished in fourth place, which was enough to take silver in the overall series standings, cementing her best year to date.

As I interviewed her after the race, Non was understandably emotional: ‘’I’m going from elated to nearly crying afterwards because I can’t quite believe it…the way the race panned out, it was nuts, it was all going off and it was about the person that was sensible and kept their head about them.’’

When asked how it felt to be part of a British 1-2, Non added: ‘’To stand on the podium with a fellow Brit, and with Jodie, was just fantastic…hopefully the boys will do the same tomorrow and it’ll be the perfect weekend for British triathlon.”

But someone had forgotten to give Spain’s Javier Gomez the script.

On Sunday, Gomez, Olympic Champion Alistair and his younger brother, reigning World Champion Jonathan, were the leading contenders to take the world title.

At first, the scene looked familiar with everything going according to plan…until the run. As the athletes prepared for the 10k, it quickly became clear Alistair would not be repeating his Olympic triumph – he was wincing in pain as soon as he stepped off his bike. The ankle that had been bothering him all year had finally caught up with him, on the grandest of stages.

That left Jonny and Javier to slug it out – both knowing only a win would secure the world championship. When Alistair passed the dueling pair he would yell at Jonny to use his head. There was almost nothing between them until 250 metres to go, when Jonny decided to kick, prompting Alistair to stop racing and start shouting at his younger brother to be patient. With the finish line in sight, Javier sprinted brilliantly to take the victory by just one second and claim his third world championship title, after wins in 2008 and 2010.

Speaking to me live on the BBC after the race, Jonny was heartbroken: ‘’I gave it everything and I'm absolutely gutted to be honest…to get beaten by just a few metres or so is hard to take but I don’t know what I could have done differently there…I was quite good tactically at the end of the sprint…at least I gave it my all. That’s all you can ask’’.

That is indeed all we can ask of any athlete at the top of their game. Most of us wouldn’t argue with Jonny’s assessment of his race and could feel his despair as he spoke. His older sibling, however, wasn’t quite so sympathetic and gave us his thoughts on live telly in his usual, delightfully frank, manner: ’I’ll be giving him a lot of stick for that. He’s given a world title away today for being a complete tactical numpty.’’ Alistair thought Jonny should have waited until he was closer to the finish before trying to outsprint Javier.

All this candid post-race chat just added to the drama of the whole weekend…it was the perfect display of sport at its most brutal… a demonstration of how the same level of fighting spirit, bravery and sheer determination can lead to opposite outcomes. And even though for most of the athletes, the overriding emotion was agony rather than ecstasy, it was triathlon at its very best.

Over the past few years I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world with work and being pregnant certainly hasn’t stopped me. This year’s triathlon circuit has taken me to Madrid, Kitzbühel and Hamburg and the team will be back on the road with a trip to Stockholm soon.

Before my life is full of sleepless nights and dirty nappies, I’ve also managed to fit in a few babymoons in between work trips. My husband and I have enjoyed some lovely weekends in Italy and France and a very chilled out week in Barbados.

We chose Barbados as a destination when I was about 4 months pregnant because we were both craving an exotic beach holiday and Barbados is only an 8-hour direct flight away. The Caribbean island has the perfect combination of being remote enough that you can feel like you’ve ‘got away from it all’ and yet developed enough that you can feel secure you will have somewhere to go if you need medical help with the pregnancy.

We stayed at the adults-only boutique hotel, The House, and spent the week swimming in the sea (once with the island’s gentle sea turtles), eating ridiculous amounts at a few of the island’s countless delicious restaurants, having massages and going out sailing. I would highly recommend this tropical paradise if you want a beachy babymoon!

If you want something a bit more adventurous, here’s another idea: a safari in Africa. We’ve just returned from our final babymoon (I know, we’ve been very indulgent!) in Kenya. My mum was born in Nairobi and my dad was born in Tanzania so growing up, I spent most summers in East Africa with my grandparents, uncles, aunts and many, many, many cousins.

This summer, my brother's engagement celebrations took us to Nairobi. While in Kenya, I always like to fit in a visit to the coastal city Mombasa, where I got married, and a safari in one of the country's many game parks. But this year I had one big obstacle in my way - the risk of malaria. During pregnancy, a woman has a higher risk of contracting the disease and its associated complications. As I didn't want to take anti-malarials, I searched for places with a high altitude (where it would be too cold at this time of year for mosquitos to survive) where we escape for a few days.

I chose two places near the slopes of Mount Kenya in Nanyuki which is a comfortable 3-hour drive or a 45-minute plane ride from Nairobi. Nanyuki straddles the equator so it also gave me the opportunity to take the obvious 'bump in both hemispheres' photo!

Our first stop was Mount Kenya Safari Club, a refurbished 1950s-era hunting lodge, which was originally the retreat of Hollywood actor and Club founder, William Holden. It's set in more than 100 acres of landscaped gardens and is a beautiful retreat with plenty of activities such as golf, horseriding and safaris on offer. One of my favourite touches was the fireplace in the bedrooms, which staff light as part of their turndown service.

We then went on to stay at the Sweetwaters Serena Camp in the nearby Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The camp overlooks a watering hole which attracts a lot of game at all hours of the day - so you can be lying in bed watching zebra having a bath!

The resort also organised two game drives for us with a lovely female driver who was very careful to avoid the bumpiest roads. We were lucky enough to spot four out of the Big Five game (lion, rhino, buffalo and elephant - unfortunately those leopards proved elusive again!) and witnessed three lionesses and a cheetah attempting a kill.

While you can never call Kenya totally malaria-free, the Mount Kenya region is so chilly at this time of year (the Serena tented camp leave hot water bottles in your bed and provide blankets for the game drives to keep you warm), we didn't come across mosquitos. If you'd prefer a malaria-free safari, they are available in South Africa. Three years ago, I stayed at the Plettenberg Bay Game Reserve on the Garden Route. While it's a very different experience from a safari in Kenya, I would certainly recommend it as a great option for a babymoon.

For the past few months, I've been helping extend and revamp the family home - the house we built 20 years ago and I spent 15 years living in. While some stress is inevitable when dealing with building work, it's been wonderful to work on such a big project with my mum. In the last six months, walls have been knocked down, new rooms have been created and the whole house has been given a makeover.

Now it's time for the part I've been looking forward to the most - furnishing the property. The only problem is knowing where to begin. I'm no interiors expert - I'm just someone who knows what I like and what I don't like. As I'm not sure if there's a right or wrong place to start, I've decided to begin with armchairs.

During one of my countless internet searches, I came across this stripey chair on the Out There Interiors website. We've chosen grey wood-look floors and white walls so I am keen to add a bit of colour through the furniture - and this chair certainly does that! I love how eye-catching it is and have long been a fan of Louis-style furniture.

If this chair is a little bit too 'out there' and quirky for you, they have some gorgeous alternatives in their French furniture range. But I should warn you, if you like all your furniture to be perfect, these chairs are probably not for you as imperfections such as chips in the paintwork and uneven stud work is standard in this range.

I don't mind a bit of shabby chic so the stripey armchair is already part of the family. I picked up the berry colour in the Louis-style chair and found this fabulous armchair on Made.com to match. It is so comfortable that I'm now calling it my ''curl up with a cup of chai'' armchair and bought one in anthracite grey too.

Now the armchairs are taken care of, I just need to find the rest of furniture and accessories that compliments them and figure out how to arrange it all!

It's always lovely to see how well turned out Wimbledon spectators are - especially for the show courts. My SW19 wardrobe staple is a blazer - mainly for the pockets it provides! This year, I also added a few quirky accessories to my on-screen wardrobe:

As luck would have it, they came in handy when filming some features for BBC Sport - we went visit former champion Petra Kvitova for afternoon tea:

I also looked back at the tournament's on-court fashion and discovered a signed pair of long shorts that Rafa Nadal wore in 2008 at the Wimbledon museum:

Look out for the features (and the accessories!) on BBC Sport's television coverage of the tournament.

Now that the weather is playing the summer game, I've been mixing up two of my favourite foods a couple of times a week - watermelon and feta cheese. I find a sweet and juicy watermelon perfectly compliments the tanginess of feta cheese. I like to roll the feta cheese in garam masala to add some spice to the party - you can either serve it as a salad in a bowl or cut both the melon and cheese into cubes and feed onto a skewer - either way, this dish tastes delicious!

Take folic acid, don’t eat unpasteurised cheese, make sure meat, fish and eggs are cooked well, stay away from cat litter trays, wear gloves when you garden, cut down on your caffeine intake and avoid alcohol. These are just some of the many things pregnant women like me have to think about on a daily basis.

This week, we had more advice to add to the list. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' said expectant mothers may want to ‘play it safe’ and avoid chemicals found in many common household products. They advised we should:

● use fresh food rather than processed foods whenever possible ● reduce use of foods/beverages in cans/plastic containers, including their use for food storage
● minimise the use of personal care products such as moisturisers, cosmetics, shower gels and fragrances
● minimise the purchase of newly produced household furniture, fabrics, non–stick frying pans and cars whilst pregnant/nursing
● avoid the use of garden/household/pet pesticides or fungicides (such as fly sprays or strips, rose sprays, flea powders)
● avoid paint fumes
● only take over–the–counter analgesics or painkillers when necessary
● do not assume safety of products based on the absence of ‘harmful’ chemicals in their
ingredients list, or the tag ‘natural’ (herbal or otherwise).

Some of this doesn’t sound new – I always try to eat fresh rather than processed food anyway, I’ve been trying to stay away from strong paint fumes (and have been opening windows when I paint my nails!) and try to clean my house using only vinegar rather than strong chemical sprays.

But I’m very unsure how to deal with other things on the list. How can I minimise the use of moisturisers when pregnancy has made my skin drier than ever? I’m using cocoa butter, Bio Oil and moisturisers made specifically for mums-to-be. Are they safe? What can I use to stay clean instead of shower gel? As I’m a vegetarian, I often use tinned beans to keep my protein intake up – should I stop and spend ages soaking dried beans instead? Should I replace all my plastic food containers with glass ones? I don’t even want to think about giving up cosmetics - I wouldn’t want to scare anyone by wearing no make up when presenting on the television.

While the report has been widely criticised for being alarmist and putting more pressure on pregnant woman, I’m very grateful to the scientists behind it for educating us about what may be harmful to babies. The report’s authors have admitted that obtaining more definitive guidance is likely to take many years but in the meantime, they have certainly raised awareness of the current issues surrounding chemical exposure during pregnancy and breastfeeding, which they say is the purpose of their document. It’s great we’re talking about the possible risk of chemicals and it’s a shame criticism has overshadowed this opportunity to ask the questions that so many of us now surely have.

Discovering Chatsworth House in the Peak District, punting in Cambridge, chilling on Primrose Hill, walking in the Cotswolds and wine tasting at an East Anglian vineyard. These are some just some of my favourite experiences in England. While I absolutely love travelling abroad and exploring different countries, sometimes there's just no place like home. That's why I was delighted when the national tourism board asked me to help them inspire people to take more holidays in England.

Visit England wanted to put together a list of 101 things to do before you go abroad. They asked people to nominate their favourite things to see and do in England and had such an enormous response that they assembled a crack team to select the cream of the crop.

So I joined Wallace & Gromit (yes!), Bill Oddie, Clemency Burton-Hill, Skye Gyngell and a Yeoman Warder from the Tower of London and got down to business. We each had our own entries to judge from the following categories; Food & Drink, History & Heritage, Arts & Culture, Health & Fitness, Wildlife & Nature and Because it’s Awesome.

Health & Fitness was my area and after plenty of deliberation, this is the bucket list I came up with (in no particular order):

* Bathe in the naturally warm waters of the Thermae Spa in Bath
* Climb Scafell Pike, England's highest mountain
* Cycle along the Northumberland Coast
* Take a walk past The White Horse at Uffington
* Mountain bike in Dalby Forest
* Ice skate in the Fens
* Walk the South West Coast Path
* Raft at the Lee Valley White Water Centre (a London 2012 venue)
* Walk on the roof of The O2 in London
* Swing through the trees at Sherwood Forest Pines
* Surf in Newquay
* Horseride in the New Forest
* Swim in the Serpentine in London's Hyde Park
* Rock climb in the Peak District
* Swim in the open air pools and falls of the Yorkshire Dales village of Grassington
* Canoe in the Wye Valley
* Walk the Coast to Coast Walk
* Walk the Pennine Way
* Pothole and cave in Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales
* Walk the South Downs Way
* Mountain bike in Penrith
* Sail in Weymouth
* Bathe in the Turkish baths in the spa town of Harrogate
* Scuba dive with basking sharks off the Cornish coast
* Coasteering in Cornwall

What better way to mark National Vegetarian Week than as a guest on a cooking show? It was wonderful to share the very last What’s Cooking? of the series with presenters Lisa Faulkner and Ben Shephard.

Masterchef winner Natalie Coleman made us an absolutely delicious wheatberry, goat’s cheese and seasonal green salad. I’m always on the lookout for alternative grains to use in dishes so I will definitely be buying some wheatberry, which has a lovely subtle nutty taste.

Chef Jun Tanaka made a beef fillet in a salt herb crust which I didn't try of course, but I wish I'd snuck over and sampled his garlic roast potatoes!

Fellow guest singer Josh Groban and I also took part in a taste test called ‘Guess the Gelato’. Morelli’s head of product and marketing, Gino Soldan, brought some unusual flavours he had whipped up for us to try. We all tend to call it ice cream, but Morelli actually sell gelato. What’s the difference? Gino says gelato is made with milk not cream, so it’s softer and lighter; less fatty.

The first flavour (on the far right in the above photo) was basil sorbet – it was surprisingly sweet and very moreish. The second was marmalade on toast, which had a lovely bitterness. As I don’t eat fish, I couldn’t taste the third flavour – it was salmon and chives! My love of gelato was most definitely noticed as I got given some avocado-flavoured gelato to take home!

I avoid ordering risotto in restaurants as the dish tends to be too buttery or creamy for my tastes. If you’d prefer to try a lighter version, this is a simple recipe I make at home. I don't add wine into the dish, instead preferring to drink a glass with the risotto!

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

* 200g of risotto rice
* 2 lemons or limes
* 1 chopped onion
* Approximately 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
* 1 litre of vegetable stock
* A bowlful of frozen peas
* A handful of mint or basil leaves (depending on your tastes)
* 2 cloves of crushed garlic (you can use more or less, depending on your tastes)
* Rocket leaves to garnish
* Parmesan cheese to garnish (you can pick a vegetarian version in most supermarkets)
* Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the chopped onion for a couple of minutes
2. Add the risotto rice and make sure each grain is covered in the oil – add more oil if needed
3. Add a ladleful of stock - stirring occasionally until it has been absorbed into the rice
4. Continue to add the stock, a ladleful at a time, until the rice is just tender
5. Pour hot water into the bowl of frozen peas and drain.
6. Add the peas the pan with the final few ladlefuls of stock
7. Mix in the crushed garlic and mint or basil leaves
8. Squeeze juice from the lemons or limes into the pan and add salt and pepper to taste
9. Just before you serve, stir in some rocket leaves
10. Garnish with parmesan cheese

I find not stirring butter, cheese or wine into the rice gives the dish a fresher taste - let me know what you think!

I can’t remember what sparked my love of shoes. Maybe it was my mum’s influence – when I was young, she had a pair to match every outfit. I stopped growing when I was just 11 and at only 5ft 1in (and a half!), heels became a necessity. I soon fell in love.

I’ve never counted, but I think I have about 150 pairs of heels, flats, boots and trainers. I realise some of you may disapprove but we all have our vices and one of mine is collecting shoes. When I presented Newsround, I used to get a lot of comments about choice of footwear so I started keeping my twitter followers updated using the hastag #shoecam. While I’m not a huge fan of shopping, I never get bored of browsing for shoes.

But this week, shopping for footwear has taken quite a turn. This is because I’ve been on the hunt for orthotics. Here's why: I’m 19 weeks pregnant. While I was lucky enough to escape severe bouts of morning sickness in my first trimester, I started feeling some pelvic pain in my second trimester. Every medical professional I mentioned it to put it down to the usual growing pains a woman can experience during pregnancy.

While I have never been pregnant before, this pain certainly didn’t feel normal. During one evening of agony, I started doing some research on the internet and realised my symptoms (groin pain, lower back pain, difficulty rolling over in bed, sciatica type pain, waddling, knee pain and tightness in the upper back) matched those caused by Pelvic Girdle Pain or Symphysis Pubis Dysfunciton.

It is a condition which causes pain in one or more joints of the pelvis. It is most commonly associated with pregnancy (I’m told 1 in 5 suffer from it), but can also occur women who are not pregnant and men too, sometimes as a result of injury or trauma. The pain is usually made worse by separating your legs, going up or down stairs or moving around in bed.

The next day, I went to see my GP and told him I suspected I was suffering with Pelvic Girdle Pain. He seemed familiar with the condition and told me to go and see my midwife to obtain a physiotherapy referral. While I waited for my NHS physiotherapy appointment, I decided to visit an osteopath who knew how to treat PGP/SPD – I didn’t want to deal with another month of agony without getting some professional advice. Having eased up on going to the gym and practising yoga and pilates, I was also very frustrated about not knowing how much exercise I should be doing.

As soon as the osteopath looked at my posture, she noticed I was more flat footed on my right side, setting off a chain reaction up my body. My flatter right foot was causing my right knee to role in further than my left, which in turn was causing the right side of my pelvis to tilt. I’ve always known I’m flat-footed but it had never caused me any problems before. The effect of pregnancy hormones relaxing and softening my ligaments meant I couldn’t ignore my flat feet any longer.

After some manual therapy, the osteopath advised to me start wearing some orthotic insoles (foot supports) inside my shoes to help even out my flat feet. She also advised me about what type of exercise I could do, said I should try wearing a maternity support belt and most importantly, told me to listen to my body. While there is no hard and fast cure for PGP/SPD, I’m so pleased there are things I can do to try to improve my symptoms.

After purchasing my new insoles, I took the liberty of trying out my own style of therapy – buying a new pair of shoes. These cute wedges are perfect for dashing around the World Triathlon Series circuit and Wimbledon this summer while still helping me reach the dizzy heights of an athlete! Buying them has certainly been uplifting – both mentally and physically!

During Wimbledon 2012, journalist Shekhar Bhatia snapped a few portraits of me for a project he is working on celebrating established Asian faces in Britain and India. One of those photos now features in his new exhibition 'Brown Brits'. Other subjects include marathon runner Fauja Singh, Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif and entrepreneur Lord Bilimoria. The exhibition runs until October 2013 at Roast Restaurant in Borough Market in London. Pop in for a peek if you're nearby!

There are many butter bean curry recipes out there but I doubt you’ll be able to find one simpler than this. I came up with it when I’d run out of my usual curry staples of garlic, onion and tomatoes and couldn’t be bothered to dash out to the shops.

Don’t let my list of ingredients scare you – I promise you you’ll spend no more than 10 minutes from start to finish as you have nothing to cut or prepare. If you don’t already have all these spices in the cupboard, I urge you to go out and get them (they’re readily available from Asian food stores and most ordinary supermarkets) to make your life easier when making curries in the future.

1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds
3. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, lower the heat and add the ground cumin and coriander, turmeric, asafoetida, cloves and cinnamon – be careful not to burn the spices.
4. Add the drained and rinsed butter beans
5. Once all the beans are covered with the spices and hot, add the natural yoghurt, lime, chilli, salt and sugar if wanted.
6. After simmering for a couple of minutes, garnish with coriander.

Do Something Funny for Money. That's what Red Nose Day asks us to do. After years of making a total fool of myself, this year I've agreed to take part in Let's Dance for Comic Relief with Ore Oduba. So expect more of the same again. Ore and I first met while working on Newsround together. We then went on co-present British Olympic Dreams and we're sticking with BBC One for our third show together. Only this time, it will be live on a Saturday night and instead of presenting, we'll be showing the nation how much rhythm we have (!)

Before rehearsals started, I thought Indian dancing training in my youth would help. Let me tell you, it doesn't. But at least we'll be having lots of fun! All we want is for the audience to be entertained and inspired to help raise a life-changing amount of money for people living incredibly tough lives both here in the UK and in Africa

Here's something I can't live without - my stainless steel spice box. You'll find one in every Indian kitchen. Growing up, I would watch my mum create delicious meals with hers and when I got married, my mother-in-law gave me my very own masala dabba to fill up with my everyday essentials.

Here's what my spice box contains (starting from the top and moving clockwise):

There are no rules about what a spice box should contain - these are just the ingredients I use most often when making a curry. As I only love experimenting with non-Indian cooking too, I do require an overflow area though:

This drawer houses all the extras I may need, such as garam masala, fenugreek seeds, sumac, whole peppercorns, lemon pepper, chilli flakes, dried oregano and of course the all-important salt.

If you love making curry, or want to start, I highly recommend arming yourself with a masala dabba. They're available online or in many Asian grocery stores. Let me know how you get on!

So after years of furious denials, Lance Armstrong has finally admitted he doped to win all 7 of his Tour de France titles. While so many people have the right to be angry, I never felt it was my place to judge him. After all, I hadn’t been personally duped. I may have followed his career and read lots about him, but I wasn’t one of the millions of people around the world who bought his books or those yellow Livestrong bracelets. I wasn’t a clean cyclist who never had a chance of winning.

What I am is frustrated. Armstrong may have confessed to one of the biggest sporting frauds in history, but he only confirmed something we already knew and didn’t actually give much away. After watching the Oprah interviews, I am full of more questions. Would you have admitted doping if the United States Anti-Doping Agency hadn’t concluded that you had run "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen"? Will you compensate those you hurt so badly? How did you manage to keep this fraud covered up for so long? Will you now help out the anti-doping community? What do you say to the millions of cancer survivors who believed in you? There are plenty more where they came from.

Armstrong dodging some of Oprah’s questions didn’t surprise me. But some of his answers did. When asked whether he wanted to be allowed to compete again, Armstrong said: ‘’Frankly, this may not be the most popular answer, but I think I deserve it.’’ I know we all wanted honesty from you Lance, but that answer was way too honest. Even if you think you ‘deserve’ to compete again, you don’t tell the world while you’re attempting to apologise for your sins. All that answer achieved was highlight Armstrong’s arrogance, rather than reveal a humble man full of remorse.

After being handed a lifetime ban from official sporting events, Lance Armstrong went back to triathlon - a sport I have been covering for a couple of years. Like so many other athletes, current Olympic-distance triathlon world champion Jonathan Brownlee grew up watching Armstrong compete and regarded him as one of his heroes. Jonny told me he doesn’t think the disgraced cyclist should be allowed to compete in the sport. The problem is, there’s an easy way to get around the ban. Even after the USADA report, Armstrong was so desired by some triathlon organisers that he trumped the need for USA Triathlon sanctioning.

Understandably, the loudest disappointment comes from within the cycling world. After Armstrong’s confession, Sir Chris Hoy tweeted: “It’s hugely frustrating to have to defend your sport because of the greed and deception of a small minority. David Millar, who was banned for two years for taking the drug EPO in 2003, and is now an active anti-doping campaigner, expressed how vital it was for Armstrong to ‘’disclose everything fully behind closed doors, under oath with the actual people who can make a difference.’’ But the angriest words came from Beijing road race Olympic champion Nicole Cooke when she announced her retirement last week: "He's got no morals and he's a disgusting human being". Nicole clearly spelt out how women’s cycling had suffered while the sport’s governing body, the UCI, concentrated on Lance Armstrong and his fellow dopers: "Whilst they have been busy with all these priorities, the women's road sport, that looked so promising in 2002 when I turned professional, has crumbled…every scandal on the men's side has caused sponsors to leave on the women's side.’’

At the end of the interview, Oprah’s closing words to Lance were: ‘’The truth will set you free.’’ I’m hoping Armstrong’s long-awaited admission of doping will set the rest of the world free…free to move on. Those of us who love sport need to push governing bodies to do all they can do keep their sport clean. We now need to focus on what clean athletes are achieving, rather than spending too much time thinking about what Lance Armstrong isn’t telling us.

I’m feeling slightly sad that we will no longer be living in the year 2012 tomorrow. I’m not quite ready to let go of something that was so very extraordinary. Many of us were enthusiastic and excited about the London Games, but none of us could have predicted it would be quite the triumph that it turned out to be. The main attraction may have been sport, but so much more was on show.

The Olympics changed Britain. Danny Boyle’s spectacular opening ceremony silenced the doubters swiftly and the country was captivated. Suddenly, it was okay to be patriotic and feel proud to be British. Perhaps the biggest shock for me was commuters being friendly to each other on the Tube. That wasn’t the London I knew and loved and to be honest, I was suspicious at first. But the military security and Games Makers who greeted me with a smile when I entered Olympic Park at 6am everyday soon softened this hard Londoner.

Then came the Paralympics. They did more than change Britain – they changed the way we think, the way we saw people. We witnessed just what can be achieved with the right support.

It was a privilege to be part of London 2012. When the time came, Britain stepped up and really showed the world how it should be done. As a new year begins, I’m hoping we don’t leave behind the spirit that made this year so wonderful.

I'm sure many of you have been there. You search for ages for the right outfit for a big night out and nothing looks right. I usually don't spend much time picking out something to wear, but ahead of last night's Sports Personality of the Year awards I thought I'd go shopping for something new. Big mistake. As always, you never find something when you're looking for it. In the end, I went for some old favourites - a bright blue skirt which I've owned for years, a pair of heels I'd bought a year ago and my trusty Paparazzi magazine clutch. These clutch bags were originally created in Italy as a decoy for pick pockets, who would think the bag was just a rolled up magazine. I wasn't expecting a crime wave at the awards so I'm not sure why I carried this clutch, but I think it worked. I wore the blue skirt over a sequin dress and added a belt. Here's the final result with fellow presenters Ore Oduba and Tina Daheley looking sharp:

In her last Olympics report for First News, Sonali looks back at two of the biggest weeks in British sporting history...

''One of my favourite moments was being in Hyde Park to see triathlete Alistair Brownlee win GB’s first Olympic gold in the sport. What made his win even more special is that his little brother Jonny won bronze, so they got to stand on the podium together. It was the first time two brothers have won medals in the same event in more than 100 years.

London 2012 was the first Games where girls were allowed to join the boys in the boxing ring, so I felt privileged to see the bout that produced the first ever female Olympic boxing champion. What made it even more amazing is that it was a Brit – Nicola Adams – who made history.''

One day I’ll never forget is joining thousands of people in Hyde Park to witness Alistair Brownlee become Olympic triathlon champion. It was the first British medal I’d personally seen being won at the Games. But for me, Alistair walking across the finish line with a look of relief on his face isn’t the most memorable moment of his triumph. That came a few seconds later when he was lying on the ground trying to catch his breath and nervously looked up, back towards the home straight, searching for his younger sibling Jonny. To me, that look said: “Winning gold isn’t enough. I want my brother on the podium with me.’’ As it turns out, Alistair Brownlee got exactly what he wanted.

In her second report for First News, Sonali tells 7-14 year olds what she's been enjoying about the Games so far...

''Once the Games had begun, the first sport I reported on was archery. It might have been taking place at Lord’s, the home of cricket, but I wasn’t expecting to run into former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh. It turns out he was there because he was mentoring the Australian archery team. It was very exciting to meet a sports star I grew up watching. One of the things we talked about was how much pink has been used in decorating the venue for the Olympics!

I’ve had some great company in the studio too – Australia’s five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe popped in to talk about the teenage winners we’ve seen in the pool. He knows all about early success – Ian, whose nickname is ‘Thorpedo’ because he is one of the fastest swimmers in the world, became the youngest ever world champion when he was 15 years old.''

Sonali is one of faces of BBC Three's coverage of the Olympic Games. She talks about some of the athletes she'll be keeping her eye on over the next two weeks...

''The athletes I've got a close eye on tend to be those I've spent some time with. I'd love to see Shanaze Reade win a BMX gold after seeing her crash out in the final in Beijing. I've also got my fingers crossed for top sailor Ben Ainslie to win a 4th straight Olympic gold. And I think we all want to see Tom Daley win a diving medal.''

In her first Olympic report for First News, Sonali tell 7-14 year olds why she's so excited about the next few weeks...

''What makes these Games extra special for me is that my home city, London, is the stage for the greatest show on Earth and I get to be part of it. That’s never going to happen in my lifetime again, so I’m going to make sure I soak up as much action as possible and make everyone around the UK watching it all on their telly feel like they’re experiencing it too.''

Sonali was part of the CBBC commentary team for the Euro 2012 final last night. She comments on the reaction they've had to their offering...

''The idea behind the CBBC commentary was to provide six- to 12-year-olds (the channel's target audience) an alternative way of watching the match. Kids who didn't fancy sticking with the usual BBC offering were able to press the red button and hear four familiar voices (three ex-CBBC presenters in me, Joel Defries and Michael Absalom, and Chris Johnson who is a current face on the channel) chat about the action and provide them with fun facts and quizzes about the tournament, the two nations, the teams and the players.

We viewed it as a complement, not antidote, to the conventional commentating on the main channel.

It was also great to get any children who had been allowed to stay up for the match involved. Anyone that's ever read the CBBC message boards knows how opinionated, cheeky and funny today's kids are – not always intentionally. They got in touch with us through email, phone and those messageboards – telling us where they were watching the match, who they were supporting and why, who they were watching the match with, their match predictions, their favourite goals of the tournament and of course their favourite hairstyles.''

London 2012 will Jacques Rogge's last Olympic Games as President of the IOC. Sonali met up with him at the Youth Olympic Games in Austria to talk about his legacy...

''Most people around the world know him as the man who opens the Olympic Games. He is a man whose role dictates that he "declares" and "announces" and he looks fittingly stern, yet when I met Jacques Rogge on the first day of the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, he was anything but. Instead, the president of the International Olympic Committee proved warm and welcoming in the freezing but stunning setting of Seefeld. These Olympic Games for teens are his brainchild and something he has been working on since taking over the IOC presidency in 2001.''